A home theatre incorporates into a home components traditionally used in a theatre to enhance the experience of watching movies and other shows. While use of such components generally results in a larger viewing area and better sound, the components are considered obtrusive in a house because of their size and appearance.
With regard to size, large projectors, speakers, and screens take up floor and wall space. With regard to appearance, the components detract from the overall aesthetic appearance of the home. For example, a Sony® Cineza LCD front projector utilizes an LCD projector that is mounted on a stand in front of the viewing screen. The screen, the projector and stand all take up considerable floor space. In order to solve some of these problems, projectors and even speakers are sometimes raised above ground level often by hanging them from a ceiling. While mounting to a ceiling definitely releases floor space, the aesthetic impact is somewhat less helpful, because there is still a relatively large device hanging from the ceiling.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,551,658 to Dittmer (September 1996) teaches a ceiling mounted projector lift system that moves a projector between a raised operating position and a lowered maintenance position. Dittmer describes use of a motorized wench assembly and cables to raise and lower the projector. While the '658 patent may have some advantages over other lift systems, the lift remains substantially below the ceiling surface in both the operational and non-operational positions, and therefore is still aesthetically undesirable. U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,892 also to Dittmer (June 2000) addresses the non-operational footprint of a lift. Contrary to the '658 patent, the '892 patent teaches a lift in which the raised position is the non-operational position and the lowered position is the operational position. Dittmer describes use of a slide bracket or telescoping structure to move a projection device between the non-operational position and the operational position. Dittner's device may have reduced the non-operational footprint of a lift, but problems remain. One particular problem is the stability of telescoping arms both during raising and lowering of the component and also during operation. A persisting problem is the aesthetic appearance of the lift, which even while in a non-operational position, remains below the ceiling surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,484,993 to Huffman (November 2002) addresses at least some of the problems related to aesthetic appearance while in the non-operational position. Huffman teaches a lifting device mounted within a ceiling plenum. The non-operational position of the display is such that the viewing surface is substantially parallel to the floor. In preparation for viewing, the device operates to swing the display down 90 degrees or until the viewing surface is perpendicular to the floor. There are, however, problems with the design taught by Huffman, though. Huffman relies upon a sufficient plenum area above the ceiling surface. It appears that only a relatively flat display will fit in the plenum. Moreover, if the surface of the ceiling is joined directly to the ceiling joists, there is insufficient area to conceal the device.
Thus, there remains a need for ceiling mounted lifts that are more stable and less obtrusive.